Saxon – Denim & Leather / Power & The Glory / Crusader

Three more deluxe reissues from Saxon, one of the stalwarts of NWOBHM and a band who never took themselves too seriously, this time covering the period 1981-84. All three come with numerous bonus tracks plus a well-appointed book with lyrics, a bit of background about the recording of the albums and lots of rare photographs from the period.

First out of the blocks is 1981’s Denim and Leather, one of my favourite albums by the band and perhaps the last of their very best work. Princess Of The Night, Never Surrender, And The Bands Played On and the title track capture the band at the height of their powers, on what was the last set to feature the original line up. A couple of B-sides and a generous number of live tracks make this good value for money.

Next up is 1983’s Power and The Glory, a solid enough record but not an exceptional one. A much lower profile effort than the ones before and after it, the title track and the closing The Eagle Has Landed are the high points. Again there’s a generous helping of extras, this time in the form of demos, a couple of which are songs that didn’t make it on to the album.

Finally, to the following year’s effort Crusader. This was something of a return to form after the dip with the previous release, and although a couple of tracks have a feel of filler about them, there’s certainly some good stuff on here, especially the title track and A Little Of What You Fancy. The bonus tracks again have early versions of most of the songs, plus a couple that didn’t make the final cut.

A minor gripe is that a few previously issued bonus tracks haven’t been included on these releases – I know not why! It would have been good to have them, if only for the sake of completeness. Also, why has 1982’s seminal The Eagle Has Landed live set not been included in this series of deluxe reissues? This is one of the jewels in the Saxon crown, and it seems a strange omission.

What does it all *mean*?

Overall then, two albums that are well worth checking out if you’re a NWOBHM fan, and one that’s a bit more so-so. All though are beautifully presented in these versions, with fantastic sound and first class packaging.

‘Clapped-Out Bikers & Holiday Camps’ sounds like a terrific Saxon mid-pace tub-thumper in waiting. It’s curious, isn’t it, how old punk bands have found a way into late middle age in a way that old NWOBHM acts clearly haven’t. The former, and their fans, are simply more comfortable in their own skin – there are plenty of YouTube clips of lardy, bald old punk acts ‘doing all right with the crew’ – but old metal acts seem to still suffer the tyranny of having to put on wigs, tight trousers, suck their cheeks in and give out the lie that they’re still ‘relevant’ or down with the kids or the like. They need to loosen up (literally) and just have some fun – accept that it’s all nostalgia now.

Years ago I saw the John Lawton Band (ex Uriah Heep) in the Mean Fiddler, Tottenham Ct Road (sadly now demolished for Crossrail 1) and once a popular haunt for bewigged tight trousered ex 70s metal merchants earning a few quid for themselves. Don’t ask me why I was there: it’s a long story.

The audience had more than its fair share of quick witted hecklers, sipping pints of Tuborg and grinning at Lawton warbling away about earthmothers, goblins and the usual late 70s Heep drivel. At one stage, in an attempt to establish a bit of rapport with his learned audience, he shouted out: “What song do you want to hear?”

To which some wag answered: “Freebird!”, which prompted much merriment among the Heepster faithful and made my night.

A good mate of mine is bassist for reformed Hard Rock/Boogie Rock/Metal also-ran trio Vardis, brought in as replacement for their original bassist who died a few years back.
They seemingly can’t get a UK gig but they play the occasional German festival. They are all three (including my mate Martin) getting on a bit now, but have no truck with pretending to hide the fact. No poncy Goblin songs AFAIK, just loud uncomplicated rock.